Past Events

Outlaws & Funny Cars

October 17th 2015 Atco Dragway, Atco, NJ

This was the last of four events that Atco Dragway put together this year involving the GLNFCC. This was a four car show.

The day started out with some sunshine but by afternoon the clouds had moved in and it was a very brisk fall afternoon. Our first round was at 7:00 and by then the sun had set and the temperature was in the low 50’s. Corrected altitude was somewhere around 250 feet below sea level, prime conditions for great E.T.’s.

While the cars were in the staging lanes it started to sprinkle, this did not last long and the track dryer was brought out to dry off the track.

First car out was the Pol-Cal Corvette driven by John Kwasniewski, he was to take on the Crazy Bear Vega but it was still in the pits with a broken gear drive. John fired the Corvette up and did a burnout. The car took off but danced around a bit, John was off and on the throttle as he manhandled the car down the quarter mile.

The next pair pitted the War Path Somerset driven by John Cerchio against a newcomer, the Danger Zone Vega owned by Paul Zona and driven by Jon Wall. Jon and his dad campaign the old Fireball Monza in the North East Pro Comp series.

The Vega fired up first and came out with a strong burnout; John was not to be denied as the Somerset was right behind bellowing out tire smoke. Both cars staged with the Somerset leaving first, somewhere about half track the Somerset made a move toward the center and John had to drive the car off the centerline still stopping the clocks with a 7:13. The Danger Zone Vega took the win with a 6.93.

Around 8:30 the call came out for the funny cars, we were supposed to follow the Pro-Mods but while we were in the lanes we found out that the remaining Pro-Mods elected not to make the runs. It was in the high forties by then.

John Cerchio in the middle of his burnout in round one. Photo thanks to godragracing.org.

The War Path was out first with a single. The weather was definitely a factor as the Somerset drove through the water box to do the burnout and did not get much wheel spin on the burnout. John staged and the tires never really hooked up, the car just lumbered down the track.

The Next pair was the Danger Zone Vega taking on the Pol-Cal Corvette. Both cars hit the water box to do their burnouts with the same results as John, the big slicks were not hooking up well tonight. Both cars staged with the Vega out first. The Corvette was off and on the throttle never really hooking up. The Vega did seem to find some traction for the first half and then feel off pace from the first pass, but crossed the finish line first.

This was our last event for the season and we look forward to 2016 and returning to Atco Dragway. This is a great race track with great staff.

The Peak Winners Trophy goes to The Danger Zone team with Jon Wall driving.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to John Cerchio.

Peak Event Winner

Jon Wall

Best Reaction Time

John Cerchio

Contingency Award

Winner: Jon Wall

Runner Up: John Kwasniewski

Super Chevy Show

October 10th 2015 Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison, IL

October 10th was the third event for the year for GLNFCC scheduled at Gateway Motorsport Park for their Super Chevy show, and we had two 1969 Camaro's in house to show them what funny cars are all about.

The weather was just about what dream are made of, cool, clear, altitude in the 600 foot range, and by far the best these cars have seen all year. The first round went off at high noon, and the battle of the 69's was on.

Bill Anderson's RoadShow Camaro cut a nice .062 light and was out of the gate first ahead of Ron Ooms Streaker's Ride Camaro. The RoadShow Camaro needed that starting line advantage, just nipping the Streaker's Ride with a 7.261 over a 7.172 win at the finish line.

For round two at 3:30PM the tensions were high as both Camaros were set to let it rip to the max as they were on their final runs for the season, and a year's worth of adrenaline was flowing high in both cars.

Anticipation got the best of both drivers, and they both left early. While the RoadShow was out just a hair before the Streaker's Ride, he left early enough to not record a time while Streaker's red light still awarded him a 7.026 for the fastest ET of the weekend.

Both the RoadShow and Streaker's Ride teams arrived back at the pits, cheered loudly, toasted, and celebrated the end of a great and successful non-attrition of parts year.

We'd like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the Gateway staff, they were extremely accommodating and a pleasure to spend the weekend with.

The Peak Winners Trophy goes to Ron Ooms and his Streaker's Ride team.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to Bill Anderson in his RoadShow '69 Camaro.

Ron Ooms

Best Reaction Time

Bill Anderson

Contingency Award

Winner: Ron Ooms

Runner Up: Bill Anderson

Outlaws & Funny Cars

September 26th 2015 Atco Dragway, Atco, NJ

This was the third of four events that Atco Dragway put together this year that included the funny cars in there Pro Mod & Top Sportsman’s series points’ races. The GLNFCC brought out 8 funny cars to this event. First run for the funny cars was around 7:00.

First pair out was the Total Insanity Monza driven by Chris Massarella taking on the Quarter Pounder Trans Am driven by Kevin Johnson. Both cars did their burnouts and staged. The Monza moved first but both cars seem to have some traction issues with the Monza taking the win.

Next up was the Sweetman Brothers Citation driven by Drew taking on the Time Bomb Vega driven by Bob Toth. Drew was first out and finished with a career best of 6.93 but the Vega covered that with a 6.59.

After all of the various class finals it was time for the funny cars to make one last pass. First up was the Agent Orange against the Quarter Pounder. Kevin is still getting used to the Trans Am but he sure looks like a pro doing the burnouts. Kevin knew that he had to gamble to get in front of the Duster and ended up turning on the red-light, this didn’t matter as Kim got the Duster hauling down the track this pass with a 6.28.

Third pair was the Agent Orange Duster driven by Kim McKean against the Mistress Corvette driven by Scott Ringwood. The Corvette took the lead and crossed the finish line with a 7.03, the Duster lost traction right at the hit and never recovered.

Final pair of the round pitted the two East Coast rivals George Reidnauer in the Excalibur Corvette against Rocky Pirone in the Screamin Eagle Trans Am. Both cars came out with long smoky burnouts and also did several dry hops to get the crowd pumped up. The Corvette was out first and ran a 6.27 to Rocky’s 6.67.

Next up was the Mistress Corvette taking on the Total Insanity Monza, both cars were sounding pretty strong and filled the track with a lot of smoke. Chris did a couple of dry hops before staging. The Corvette was out first and looked like he was going to take the win when about half-track it started to move around and Scott had to wrestle the car down the track. Chris took the win with a 7.28.

Up next was the Sweetman Brothers Citation taking on the Screamin Eagle. Rocky was coming out to avenge his first round loss. The Eagle came out hard with a half-track burnout. Both cars staged with Drew pulling a .009 light. Rocky reeled in the Citation quickly and crossed the stripe with a 6.44.

It was time for the finals, pitting the Excalibur with a 6.27 against the time bomb with a 6.59. The Excalibur came out first burning the hides with the Vega following suit. Both cars backed up and did a few dry hops. It was easy to tell this was going to be a great final. George was out first and was holding on until about 600 feet or so when the Corvette decided it did not want to go straight anymore, it went left then right with George fighting to get the car under control. Bob Toth went right down the track taking the win with a 6.76.

We have one more event at Atco Dragway and that will be a four car show on October 17th. This event will be the last GLNFCC event of the season.

The Peak Winners Trophy goes to the Time Bomb Team.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to Drew Sweetman.

Bobby Toth

Best Reaction Time

Drew Sweetman

Contingency Award

Winner: Bobby Toth

Runner Up: George Reidnauer

PID/Keystone Nostalgia Classic

September 26th 2015 Pittsburgh Raceway Park, New Alexandria, PA

It’s the end of September so once again it is time for the annual running of the nostalgia bulls in New Alexandria, PA. This event has been running in some form for almost ten years, this is the eighth year that this race has taken place at Pittsburgh Raceway Park.

As always Jim Sinkewitz has put together a full line up of race cars and displays cars, most of the display cars are survivors and boy if they could talk. The lineup included the Nostalgic Notions, Southern Slingshots, Ohio AA/Gassers, UMTRA, GLNFCC and N.E. Super Stocks.

Once again this event was blessed with a bright sunny weekend. It seems that Greg Miller has made some sort of a deal with Mother Nature.

After a full day of time trials and some eliminations it was time to bring out the show cars. First out for the GLNFCC was the Crazy Bear Vega driven by Bob Tyrsek taking on the Solid Rock Mustang driven by Rocky Ausec. Rocky hails from Rockdale, IL and of course he had to bring his patented half-track burnout with him. Crazy Bear moved first and was leading Rocky for a short bit when the Mustang powered by the Vega with a 7.44.

Next pair brought out the Damn Yankee Vega driven by Mark Horvath taking on new comer John Kwasniewski in the small block powered Pol-Cal Corvette. The cars roared to life and filled the track with smoke. Both cars were out at the hit and this was a race, the whole quarter mile, with the Damn Yankee getting the win but both cars ran identical 7.29 elapsed times.

Next up was the Overload Arrow driven by Jim Locsi taking on the East Coast favorite War Path Somerset driven by John Cerchio. This was a rematch from the finals at the Sunday Nostalgia race in Lancaster, NY where the Arrow spanked the Somerset. The Arrow did move first but the Somerset came on strong and revenged his previous loss with a 7.10 to Jims 7.22.

The sun had set and the temperature was cooling down when the funnies were called for their second round.

The Crazy Bear Vega and the Damn Yankee could not make the call as both cars were wounded from the first round. The Pol-Cal Corvette was up against the Overload Arrow, judging from previous run numbers this should be a good race. Smokey burnouts are real cool at night and these two did not disappoint the spectators. The Corvette was out first with the arrow barreling down on him and taking the win with a 7.07 to the Corvettes 7.29.

Next Pair was The Solid Rock Mustang against the War Path Somerset. The War Path waited while the Mustang did his burnout but the car hooked and Rocky was not able to do his usual long burnout. The War Path did a short burnout as to not make Rocky wait too long. They both staged and the Mustang was out straight then made a move to the left with Rocky back pedaling and losing the fight. John took the win with a 7.25.

Sunday started the same way Saturday did, bright and sunny, but it was a little windy. By mid-afternoon it was time for the show finals. First out was the Crazy Bear Vega against the Damn Yankee Vega; both cars had issues on Saturday and did not make their second round pass. Well it sounded like they both were better and ready to do battle.

Bob came out with a real Crazy Bear burnout that was spectacular. Both cars were out at the hit and the Damn Yankee had the Bear at the 1,000 foot mark and but it seem to slow down at that point, Crazy Bear took the win with a 7.94. The Yankee blew the motor up on that run.

The second pair was the Pol-Cal Vette taking on the Solid Rock. Both cars came out with great burnouts and staged. The Corvette was pumped up, but too much as John turned on the red light. Rocky took the win with a consistent 7.46.

The finals were next and it pitted the Overload Arrow against the War Path Somerset. These cars both have big cubic inch BBC in them and are very strong running cars. Jim was out first with a killer .035 reaction time and was holding off the War Path as it built up some steam, the Somerset took win.

We are proud to be a part of this great nostalgia race and look forward to next year. Pittsburgh Raceway Park is a great facility ran by friendly people.

The Peak Products Winner Trophy was presented the War Path Team.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award went to Jim Locsi driving the Overload Arrow.

Peak Event Winner

John Cerchio

Best Reaction Time

Jim Locsi

Contingency Award

Winner: John Cerchio

Runner Up: Jim Locsi

Labor Day Spectacular

September 5th 2015 Dyno Dom’s Sikeston Raceway, Sikeston, MO

Well after years of trying to get the GLNFCC a show at Dyno Dom’s Sikeston Raceway we finally got the opportunity. Dom booked in two cars on Saturday to be a part of their big Labor Day Weekend Blowout.

Dominic Blasco has owned this track for about five years now. This is a nice 1/8 mile track that is kept very clean.

By early afternoon the pits were already filling up when John Troxel's Mopar Crazy Challenger and Rocky Ausec’s Solid Rock Mustang invaded the track. The weather of the day was hot and humid. It was one of those days that all you tried to do was somehow stay cool.

By early evening the call went out for funny cars to the lanes.

The cars fired up and pulled forward to start the burnouts. Both cars were roaring through the burnout box with smoke pouring out from under the bodies. Rocky staged first with Chris following him in. Chris got out first with the Mustang right behind. After Rocky shifted into high gear the car started to move around a bit but calmed down and just got past the Challenger at the lights.

Second round was about 9:30, it was still hot & humid. Rocky seemed to get it right this time and almost did a full track burnout, Chris was right behind with a killer burnout of his own. Both cars staged and Chris got the jump again, I believe he came prepared to beat up on the cagey seasoned veteran. Chris was out on Rocky and looked like he was going pull this one out when the car seem to move around and slow down, Rocky drove right pass the Challenger. It turned out that a pin came out of the wheelie bar on the Challenger.

For the second event in a row we were treated to a legend being in our pits. Larry Reyes who drove the Hawaiian funny car back in the 70’s came to hang out with the Mopar Crazy team. He lives in nearby Memphis, TN.

Thanks to Dominic and all of his staff for a fun evening.

The Peak Winner Trophy goes to the Solid Rock team.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to Chris Schneider.

Contingency Award

Winner: Rocky Ausec

Runner Up: Chris Schneider

Mopar Thunder | Fun Ford Weekend

As the Ford and Mopars invade Bristol Dragway for their annual get together, the GLNFCC was scheduled to be a part of this big event for the third straight year.

This year the Detroit Thunder '56 T-Bird was slated to take on the Gold Coast Charger. The week before this event the GLNFCC had a four-car show at Music City Raceway in Nashville, the Hallett’s who field the T-Bird and hail from Clarkston, MI, were part of that show and made a little vacation out of the trip. They stayed at a RV Park in Lebanon and toured the area for a few days before arriving at Bristol Dragway.

The drag strip brings in Homer from Atlanta, GA to announce several of their specialty events. He has been at each of the events we have been to and he does a great job interviewing the drivers and building up a rivalry. He really had fun last year with Rocky Ausec and Mark Horvath and he seemed to be up to the challenge of working with a different driver.

After a little smack talk it was time for the first of three rounds. Racing on the mountain always proves to be interesting. Both cars came out with great burnouts. Mark moved first; with the T-Bird reeling in the Charger but the track just wasn’t long enough as the Charger won by a nose.

It was time for the drivers to do a between rounds interview and Mark stated that they were putting a tune up on the Charger that should put them easily out front on the next run. Bill told him not to be too sure.

On the second run the teams switched lanes with the T-Bird coming out with another strong burnout. The Charger seemed to labor on the burnout and you had to wonder if they went the right direction with the tune-up. The T-Bird was out first and crossed the finish line with a 7.67 to an 8.10 by the Charger.

So we head into the final run with a one to one tie. The Charger fired first and there seem to be some issues getting the T-Bird started, after the Charger did its burnout and was backing up the T-Bird tried to fire one more time with a loud pop, the T-Birds day was done. The Charger made a single with a strong 7.68 pass proving that they did go the wrong direction with the tune-up on the second pass.

Bristol Dragway is a very impressive place to race or spectate; the staff is very professional and attentive. Check it out when you can.

The Peak Products Winner Trophy goes to the Gold Coast Charger team.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to Mark Horvath with a .032 light.

Best Reaction Time

Mark Horvath

Contingency Award

Winner: Mark Horvath

Runner Up: Bill Hallett

Music City Raceway

August 22nd 2015 Music City Raceway, Goodlettsville, TN

Well if you get off exit 98 on Highway 65 in Goodlettsville, Tennessee and you wind your way through about 8 miles of road that will take well over 20 minutes. You will come across Music City Raceway. To say it is not easy to get to is an understatement. But once you are there you will be impressed.

The GLNFCC was scheduled to appear at Music City Raceway last year but we could not fill the show. Rick & Charlotte Gonzales the owners gave us another opportunity to bring in a four car show for the 2015 season. They have jet car shows every year but they say it had been a long time since they had a funny car show.

This track is a 1/8 mile and is a nice little gem. The track itself is smooth and nicely groomed, along with several large paved pit areas. The tricky part is the cul-de-sac turn off, a little challenging, but like most things not to bad once you get the hang of it.

During the afternoon the Mopar Crazy crew tried to make a test pass but as they were getting ready we were treated to a 20% chance shower. Once the rain stopped it took some time and the track was back in action. The Mopar Crazy team did get a test pass in, which gave the crowd an idea of what they were going to see later on.

By late afternoon the spectators were starting to arrive, many of which were taking in the funnies and getting acquainted with the drivers. All of the drivers were signing hero cards and taking pictures. Many of the local racers were socializing with funny car drivers also. Music City Raceway seems to have a loyal racer following.

Roland Leong was assisting John Troxel at this event. Roland’s old friend and driver Larry Reyes came out to hang out also. This was an unexpected treat to the track and fans, who made the most of it and got many pictures with the pair.

Just before the funnies were supposed to make their first round we were treated to a brief sprinkle, but this was over quickly. Finally it was time for the show. First out was the Detroit Thunder 56 T-Bird driven by Bill Hallett taking on the Blue Thunder driven by Monty Stotz. Both cars completed their burnouts and staged. The T-Bird was out first and stayed in front the entire 1/8 mile.

Next up was the Mopar Crazy Challenger driven by the Flying Butcher, Chris Schneider, taking on the Solid Rock, Rocky Ausec. Rocky and Chris wowed the fans with two almost full track smoky burnouts. Chris was out first but at half-track both cars seem to be out of control, the 20% chance of rain picked back up just as these cars took off, Rocky did take the win but it wasn’t pretty.

The Peak Winners Trophy went to Bill Hallet and the Detroit Thunder crew.

Contingency Award

Winner: Bill Hallett

Runner Up: Monty Stotz

Route 66 Classic

If it is the middle of August it must be time for the annual nostalgia event at Route 66 Dragway, called The Route 66 Classic. This is the fifth year that Route 66 has been presenting this event.

The event is a collection of various nostalgia drag classes, a car show and different exhibition groups that are chosen to perform at this event.

It was a typical hot & humid mid-August day. By mid-afternoon it rained just enough to delay things for a short time. The track personnel cleaned off the track and had it back up and running in no time.

By 7:00 it was time to start the show. First out for the funny cars was the Roadshow Camaro driven by Bill Anderson taking on the local legend Rocky Ausec in the Solid Rock Mustang. Both cars did their burnouts then staged. The Mustang was out first and was holding its own until a little past half-track when the Hemi-powered Camaro roared on by to take the win.

Next up was the MoparCrazy Challenger driven by The Butcher Chris Schneider taking on the Gold Coast Charger driven by Mark Horvath. The Challenger came out with a strong burnout with the Charger keeping up the pace. The Charger was out first with the Challenger making its move when he pitched a blower belt handing the win to the Charger.

Night had come and it was time for the last round of funny cars. First pair pitted the Gold Coast Charger against the MoparCarzy Challenger. Chris was ready to avenge his first round lost and showed it with a .003 reaction time, again at about half track the Challenger seemed to fall off pace and Mark held on for the win.

Next up was the two quickest from the first round, the Solid Rock against the RoadShow. Rocky came out with one of his signature half-track burnouts, this really got the crowd going. Bill showed he was ready to take home a win with an impressive .024 light. Both cars were running close until about half-track when the Mach 1 got out of the grove enough that Rocky had to back pedal some giving Bill the win.

The Peak Winners Trophy goes to Bill Anderson and The RoadShow crew.

The Good Vibrations Reaction Time Award goes to Chris Schneider in the MoparCrazy Challenger.

Bill Anderson

Best Reaction Time

Chris Schneider

Contingency Award

Winner: Bill Anderson

Runner Up: Rocky Ausec

Outlaws and Funny Cars

August 15th 2015 Atco Dragway, Atco, NJ

Atco Dragway brought in The Great Lakes Nostalgia Funny Car Circuit this year to add more excitement to their four Pro Mod shows. The first one in June was scheduled to be a 8 car show but that show was rained out, this show was scheduled to be a 4 car show.

The day turned out to be a hot August day with the temperature above 90 degrees, there was over ten wicked pro Mods on the property along with many more race cars.

Earlier in the day the Stranglehold Vega funny car team had started the car to check the timing, after the car was shut off they realized the car had an oil leak. The car was put in the trailer and it was first thought that the rear main seal was bad and the car would not run that day. Bob Rosetty and team got to work and had the necessary repairs done with time to spare.

After a full day of racing and qualifying the Pro Mods had started their elimination rounds, by then it was early evening and time to bring out the funny cars.

First pair was the Stranglehold Vega driven by Mike Hall taking on the Sweetman Brothers Citation driven by Drew Sweetman. Drew came out first with a strong burnout, with Mike smoking the new slicks on the Vega. As they staged Mike did a few cool dry hops. The Citation moved first, The Vega hooked hard and carried the front tires for at least 100 feet. The Citation slowed at half-track, we later found out a fuel line had broken and was spraying raw fuel on the windshield. Mike & the Vega took the win with a strong 7.31 E.T.

Next up was Bob Rosetty in the Funny Farmer Pinto going up against the Warpath Somerset driven by John Cerchio. The Pinto started with a strong burnout but shut off as the engine gave away. The Warpath was shut off while they towed the hurt Pinto off the track. Once all was clear the Somerset was fired back up and did a short burnout. John ran through the quarter mile with a 7.45.

Kevin Johnson brought out the Quarter Pounder Trans Am to get in some test passes, but the starter decided to give in and the Trans Am was put on the trailer.

In between rounds the Sweetmans were working on the Citation and found the Lenco transmission had a rolled a sprag, which meant they were done for the night.

With two cars broke the second round would only be one pair and that was the Strangle Hold taking on the Warpath. The cars came out with strong burnouts and dry hops. The cars staged and prepared for the green light, unfortunately the tree had not been changed from the bracket races and a full tree came down, not a pro tree. John anticipated the green first and turned on the red light. John did take the stripe first with a 7.69 to Mike’s 7.70, it was a close tight race.

For the second race in a row the Good Vibrations Reaction Time Award goes to Drew Sweetman.

We want to thank Lenny Capone and the Atco race staff for bringing in the GLNFCC and providing us with a great race surface. We look forward to coming back to Atco on September 26th when we will bring 8 GLNFCC funny cars to put on a show. Hopefully the drag racing Gods will be a little easier on us.

Mike Hall

Best Reaction Time

Drew Sweetman

Contingency Award

Winner: Mike Hall

Runner Up: John Cerchio

Windsor Weekend

August 1st 2015 Grand Bend Dragway, Grand Bend, ON

For the past 14 years, the drag-racing-faithful in the Windsor area have made their way to the shores of Lake Huron for the annual Windsor Weekend event at the Grand Bend Motorplex, in Grand Bend, Ontario. This annual event has consistently drawn hundreds of competitors and thousands of fans each year, making it one of the largest Community Sponsored Racing Events in Canada.

This year the GLNFCC was included in the lineup on Saturday. After a long afternoon of racing it was time for the show to start. While the cars were in the staging lane awaiting the call it started to lightly rain, it did not last long and the Grand Bend crew wasted no time in getting the Grand Bend track surface ready.

First out was the Shyster Corvette driven by Nick Tilley taking on the cagey veteran Rocky Ausec in the Solid Rock Mustang. After a long burnout both cars staged, the Corvette was out first and held on for the win with a 7.20 against Rocky’s 7.58.

Next up was the Detroit Thunder T-Bird driven by Bill Hallett, taking on the Damn Yankee Vega driven by Mark Horvath. Both cars left the line hard with the Vega out first. The T-Bird tried to reel in the Vega but it was not working as the Mark crossed the stripe first with a 7.19.

It was getting dark when the call for the second round came out. First pair was the Detroit Thunder against the Solid Rock Mustang. Rocky came out with one of his crowd pleasing, almost half track burnout. The T-Bird was right behind him. Rocky was out first and it seem by the 1,000 foot mark the T-Bird was making up ground but suddenly slowed as it seem like something in the motor gave way, giving the Mustang the win.

The final pitted the Damn Yankee with a 7.19 against the Shyster with a 7.20. Both cars came out with hard burnouts and were ready to put up a fight. The Corvette came out first with a .040 light and seemed to have the Vega on the ropes, but around half-track both cars seem to run into trouble and the Vega just held on for the win. After the round we found out that the Damn Yankee had some engine damage.

The Peak Winner Trophy goes to the Damn Yankee Team.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to Nick Tilley in the Shyster Corvette.

We really want to thank the organizers of Windsor Days and the Grand Bend Motorplex personnel for a great time and the opportunity for being a part of this great celebration. Keep us in mind for next year.

Thanks as always to all of our great sponsors: Pace Performance, Seals-It, Peak Products, S & W Race Cars and Good Vibrations Motorsports.

Peak Event Winner

Mark Horvath

Best Reaction Time

Nick Tilley

Contingency Award

Winner: Mark Horvath

Runner Up: Nick Tilley

Sunday Nostalgia at Lancaster Dragway

August 1st 2015 Lancaster Dragway, Lancaster, NY

This event used to be called the Sunday Niagara in tribute to the old Niagara Dragstrip. Due to name infringements the new management changed the name to Sunday Nostalgia. Along with the change came the first annual Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. This is to honor the people that helped form the foundation that helped grow drag racing in the Western New York area.

This is a two day event, on Saturday they had qualifying for various classes, funny cars and the AA/Gasser shootout. On Sunday they had a car show, class eliminations and two fuel altereds.

After the gassers the funny cars ran their first round. First up was the Overload Arrow driven by Jim Locsi taking on the Sweetman Brothers Citation driven by Drew Sweetman. The Citation moved first with the Arrow taking the win at the stripe.

Next pair was John Cerchio in the War Path Buick Regal against Bob Tyrcek in the Crazy Bear Vega. Both cars came out with short burnouts. The Vega was out first and never looked back with the Regal having some issues getting down the track.

Second round saw The Sweetman Brothers taking on the Warpath. Both cars seem to get what problems they may have had in the first round fixed. They both did strong half-track burnouts. The Citation hooked first but the Buick came alive and took the win.

Last pair up was the Overload Arrow and the Crazy Bear Vega. The Vega came out with a good burnout, but when he staged it looked like he was not in his tracks. The Vega came out crossed up but straighten out enough to save the run. The Arrow made a hard and straight pass taking the win.

This was to be a Chicago style race but since the first round did not go so well, Bob and Drew agreed to give the fans a little more excitement, so before the finals they lined up. Both drivers seem to be having some fun with the burnouts. The Vega’s burnout was strong and sideways. This was a close race with both drivers leaving about the same time. The Citation pulled ahead and held on for the win.

It was time for the two quickest to run in the finals. The War Path against Overload. The track was a little hard to handle so Jim said that he took a little timing out of the motor to calm the car down. The Arrow was out in front of the Warpath by at least a car length at the hit and took the win. The tuning call must have been the right call as Jim ran a 4.71/143, the best pass of the day.

Peak Event Winner

Jim Locsi

Best Reaction Time

Drew Sweetman

Contingency Award

Winner: Jim Locsi

Runner Up: John Cerchio

Ford Fun Weekend

July 25th 2015 Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison, IL

Gateway Motorsports Park brought in two of The GLNFCC Ford bodied cars to perform during this year’s Ford Fun Weekend.
The Solid Rock Mustang driven by Rocky Ausec was taking on the Detroit Thunder 56 T-Bird driven by Bill Hallett. This was the first event for the T-Bird for some time as Bill has been running the Red Barn Cuda body on his car for the last several years.

First round went off right about 12:00 as both cars lined up to do battle. The Solid Rock Mustang was coming off of a two round win over the Damn Yankee at St. Thomas Dragway during the CK Nationals. The T-Bird was out first but seem to have some engine issues. Bill did hold on for the win as the Mach One showed its Evil side and moved toward the wall, as Rocky tried to get it corrected it took a hard move toward the center line hitting the finish line cone.

By mid-day it was time for the second round of funny cars. Both cars came out with hard burnouts. The T-Bird moved first but turned on the red-light, then ran into a traction problem at about 300 feet. Bill finally got the car to hook up but Rocky had the Mustang hooking hard and carrying the front wheels through first gear. The Mustang crossed the finish line first with the best pass the car had made since Early May.

The Peak Winners Trophy was presented to both drivers as each won one round.

The Good Vibrations Motorsports Reaction Time Award goes to Bill Hallett with a .043 R.T.

The S & W Contingency Award is split by both drivers.

This is the second out of three times that the GLNFCC will be at Gateway Motorsports Park this year and we want to thank them for letting us be a part of these shows this year.

Peak Event Winner

Rocky Ausec & Bill Hallett

Best Reaction Time

Bill Hallett

Knight Of Fire

July 25th 2015 Quaker City Motorsports Park, Salem, OH

This event was originally called The Thunder and Lightning Spectacular, but since the last two event were rained out Management thought it might be time for a name change. So this event was dubbed The Knight of Fire.

The round table of entertainment brought in for this event was the Nostalgic Notion Gassers, the Southern Slingshots, the Dustman Brothers with the Jolly Rogers front engine dragster and the Time Bandits had their nitro powered front engine dragster there also plus the GLNFCC.

The fire portion was provided by Scotty Holdridge with the 50 Cal jet dragster taking on Al in his Hot Blade Jet Dragster. Tim Arfons was there with his unique Jet Turbine powered front engine dragster. Then to top it off The King Of Quake Bob Motz was there with his Jet powered Kenworth.

After a full round of bracket racing it was time to start the show. First out was the gassers followed by the funny cars.

First pair brought out Mike Hall driving Bob Rosettys Funny Farmer Pinto taking on Bill Anderson in the Road Show Camaro. Both cars came out with hard burnouts and Mike did a few old-style dry hops in the Pinto. Bill seemed to have some clutch issues in the Camaro as it pulled him through the lights and did not activate the tree. Mike ran through with a 7.75 ET.

Next up paired Monty Stotz in the Blue Thunder Camaro against Bob Rosetty in the Stranglehold Vega. Mike Hall normally drives the Stranglehold but there was a driver’s switch for this event. Bob started first with a hard burnout and the car quickly moved from side to side, the reason being, the block had just spit out a few pistons and Bob was slipping in his own oil. After they towed the broken car off the track the Quaker City staff did a great job cleaning up the aftermath, in a short time the track was ready to go again.

Bob Tyrsek was along to get some test passes on his Crazy Bear Vega so he was paired up to run Monty Stotz in the Blue Thunder Camaro. Monty came out with a good burnout with the Vega right behind him. The Camaro turned on the light first and never looked back. The Vega ran through the quarter with a clean, straight run.

We only brought back three cars for the second round. With the Stranglehold hurt and the Pinto not running up to its potential Bob Rosetty chose to inspect the engine on the Funny Farmer and not run the second round. I’d say he could have been a little gun shy and did not want to add to a second oil down, smart move.

The Crazy Bear Vega came out first for another test run. Bob seems to be getting a better feel for the car. The burnout was good and he made another straight clean pass.

The final put the Blue Thunder Camaro against the Road Show Camaro. The sun had set and the lights were now on. Funny cars under the lights are so cool. Both Camaro’s roared up the Quaker City hill to do their burnouts. Both cars left together but the Roadshow danced just enough to allow Monty to pull away for the win.

C-K Nationals

July 18th 2015 St. Thomas Dragway, Sparta, ON

Bob Maxwell who has put together the C-K Nationals for the last four years has made The Solid Rock Mustang and The Damn Yankee Vega a staple for the last two years. This year was no different as the two funny cars were to be part of the show.

As always Bob and the staff put out the red carpet for these two funny cars. They had a special pit area right near the staging lanes already for them. Bob had 4 X 8 posters printed up of each car that was set out by their pit spots. They were both presented with a nice plaque commemorating the event.

By midafternoon it was time to get the show on the road. It was a hot and humid Mid-July day and it showed as both cars had problems getting a lot of smoke on their burnouts. Mark moved first in the Vega but seem to have problems down track as the power in the Vega went flat. Rocky took the win with a 4.84 in the eight mile.

Second round both cars seem to do a better job on the burnout with a fair amount of smoke bellowing out from under the fiberglass bodies. Both cars staged and the Vega again moved first, but drew a red light as the tree was not set for the usual .400 pro tree. Someone forgot and it was set on a full tree. Rocky did pull off the win but he did fight the car down the track as it was moving from side to side.

Well this was one of those rare occasions where Rocky took both wins form the always tough Horvath team. I’m sure he will savor this one, but lookout Mark will be hunting for him soon.

RAINED OUT EVENT

Well, it is Memorial Day weekend and that can only mean one thing. Time for the Quaker City Nostalgia Classic and the Great Lakes Funny Car Nationals presented by Pace Performance at Quaker City Motorsports Park.

This is the second year for the running of The Funny Car Nationals in conjunction with the Nostalgia Classic. Sunday morning was warm & in the morning and there was already a long line of cars waiting to get into the track.

The spectators filled the place up early; the stands appeared to be full by the time first round started. The morning was filled with qualifying by all of the various classes that were in attendance, like the Ohio Outlaw AA Gassers, UMTR, Southern Slingshots, Nostalgic Notions and Super Stock.

Bret Kepner was the guest announcer and he really added a big-time feel to the event. The crowd was noticeably larger than last year.

By early afternoon it was time to start the show. First out for the funnies were the injected cars. Krista Massarella last years bug winner was doing the driving duties this year behind the wheel of her Temporary Insanity Monza. Krista was a little intimidated at first by the Quaker City hill, but clicked of a nice 8.11 first pass. Dustin Corn from Farmland, IN brought out his unique rear-engine Corvette funny car; this car really was a crowd pleaser.

Frank Barnard finished the round being the quickest injected car with a 7.93.

The blown funny cars were next with 23 cars making the call. There were many new faces this year and they did not disappoint the crowd, like the Lawman '70 Mustang with a boss 429 power plant it is a real stunner, but unfortunately they had some breakage that put them on the trailer.

The Pol-Cal Corvette from Hamburg, NY with a small block Chevy clicked off a straight and stout 7.35. There were plenty of low-to-mid 7-second runs along with a few mid-sixes to really get the crowd going.

At the end of round one the Streakers Ride Camaro was on top for the Midwest with a 6.67 and Kim McKean from the East ran a 6.41.

Second round started out very exciting for the injected cars. Frank Barnard in the Poison Arrow got a little sideways and tagged the wall but never lifted. Krista bettered her first round number with an 8.03 and The No Money No Funny 69 Nova ran a 7.93 putting him in the final against the Poison Arrow.

The second round brought quicker runs for the blown cars, but several of the drivers seemed to be trying too hard and either turned on the red light or rolled thru the beams before the tree was activated.

The Streakers Ride Camaro bettered his first round run with a 6.57 putting him in the finals against the Agent Orange Duster with a 6.41. There was a tense moment for the Duster as the Mascott Corvette out of Mechanicsville, NY was last to make a pass and had the chance to possibly push Kim out of the finals. It was not meant to be as Scott Ringwood driving the Corvette just missed the mark with a 6.42.

For the last three years we have paired the blown cars up in a Midwest vs. East format. This year going into the finals the East had a 12 - 11 margin.

The blown final had Ron Ooms in the Streakers Ride 69 Camaro with a 6.57 going up against last years winner from the East Kim McKean in the Agent Orange Duster. Ron treed the Duster with a .002 light and held on for the win.

The injected final saw Frank Barnard in the Poison Arrow with a 7.93 against Wille Johnson in the No Money No Funny Nova also with a 7.93. Wille left first and Frank used the whole 1/4 mile trying to reel him in, but there just wasn’t enough track.

The Good Vibration Motorsports Reaction time award went to Bob Daly with the Warhorse Mustang II for the injected class and Ron Ooms in the Streakers ride for the blown class.

Steve Musser sponsored the first round burnout contest in name of VisionCorps Foundation. VisionCorps helps families with children that are blind or have vision problems. The first round injected winner was Bob Daly with the Warhorse Mustang II. The Blown winner was Bob Rosetty with the Funny Farmer Pinto.

M.J.M. Trucking sponsored the second round burnout contest. The injected winner was Frank Barnard in the Poison Arrow and Rocky Ausec in the Solid Rock Mustang was the winner in the blown class.

Customs Unlimited, out of Hartville, OH sponsored the BUG (Back Up Girl) Award. Niki Horvath who backs up the Damn Yankee Vega was the winner with Cristina Kabb who backs up the Feelin Groovy Vega was the runner-up.

Once again John Troxel from Holtz Summit, MO took home the Longest Tow Award.

We want to thank Pace Performance for being the presenting sponsor once again. They also had the Pace Performance show trailer on display. The trailer has a big array of the products and engines that Pace Performance has to offer.

Thanks to Norm Fox and all of the Quaker City Motorsports Park staff that made this such a memorial event. The facility is top notch and the track crew had the surface prepped to handle all of the cars that were there.

Thanks to Jim and James Maher of Good Vibrations Motorsports for sponsoring the Quickest Reaction Award and for coming all the way from California to hang out at the Quaker City Nostalgia Classic and Pace Performance Funny Car Nationals.

Thanks to Peak Products and Blue Def for being the Event Winner sponsor. Also thanks to Jerry Streb, John DeCort, Mike Klontz, John & Lindsey Francis for helping make the event move along smoothly.